Perfetc form of verbs

[Marja Erwin]

Yep. Such as the perennial dispute over whether "to have got" and "to have gotten" are correct and incorrect forms, or are two forms with distinct meanings (the first being close in meaning to "to have," and the second being closer in meaning to "to have received.")

On Jan 9, 2010, at 9:36 AM, Grsartor at aol.com wrote:

> <snip>
> 
> Now, to come to the suggested use of perfect participles with "haban" and 
> "wisan". So far as I know or can recall there are no examples of active 
> perfects so expressed in Gothic, but since other Germanic tongues have adopted 
> the "have done" and "have/is gone" construction, which I am told originated 
> with the Latin tongues, it seems a fair guess that if Gothic had survived 
> it, too, would have acquired this mode of expression. To introduce it 
> therefore would seem to be much like making new words to fill the gaps in the 
> extant Gothic. The only caution I feel like expressing is that if you make a 
> new perfect, it would be desirable to be quite clear what its purpose 
> should be; for the perfect as used in English no doubt does a somewhat different 
> job from its counterparts in other tongues. Indeed, there even seem to be 
> differences between British and American use of the perfect.
> 
> Gerry T.
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Marja Erwin
marja-e at riseup.net



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